Will They Learn Anything?

This war in Ethiopia has shattered my faith in the common sense and decency of Western mainstream media and governments.

There is little sign of the media-hyped “genocide” in Tigray, as Ethiopian troops enter cities and towns in the northern Tigray region, without much resistance. The federal government is delivering relief aid, and starting to repair infrastructure in newly liberated towns. Yet a massive and destabilizing disinformation war is still raging. There is also the risk of a renewed insurgency, though public opinion inside Tigray seems to have less appetite for this than two years ago when the war began.

It feels good to have been right all along, having done what I never imagined myself doing, namely contesting the consensus of all Western mainstream media and governments. A handful of fellow travelers and the love of the Ethiopian people kept my faith, gave me the confidence to rely on personal knowledge about this amazing country to contradict the narrative of the self-proclaimed “experts”, who continue to dominate the news, even after all their predictions failed to come true.

Yes, extremism exists as it does in every country, but ninety-nine percent of Ethiopians were never in the grip of genocidal rage. They were merely determined to fight not to let the dictatorial old guard return. Now they are ready for healing and forgiveness for rank-and-file TPLF supporters. With good fortune, war criminals on both sides will be held accountable via the impending national dialogue mechanism that seek to heal old wounds. We in the west can only help if we put our trust Ethiopia’s ability to build sustainable peace. If we cannot help this, we should at least avoid impeding African Solutions.

Mopping-up operations are still ongoing in areas now fully controlled by Ethiopian National Defense Forces in the northern Tigray region. Nevertheless, It will require a concerted effort to flush out TPLF tentacles that have managed to even spoil the likes of the UN institutions. The World Health Organization under the leadership of former senior TPLF leader, Dr. Tedros Adhanom is one such case. Unfortunately, many in the West have showered Dr. Tedros with accolades while he insidiously masquerades as a “good-hearted”, donor-darling simpleton. It says even more about the world than about him that he can get away with it.

This war has shattered my faith in the common sense and decency of Western mainstream media and governments. A toxic blend of ignorance and self-righteousness, laced with racist stereotypes and morbid sensationalism, has given rise to shameful backstabbing of Ethiopia’s first-ever experiment in democracy. Countless supposedly serious and respectable people have been echoing the evil lie to ordinary Tigrayans that they must kill or get killed. Their relentless demonization of Ethiopia, their pacifist virtue-signaling, their readiness to believe the worst based on the flimsiest evidence, have cost thousands of lives. There is a good reason why many Ethiopians blame the U.S. and Western nations for playing a significant role in bolstering TPLF, a group that once ruled Ethiopia for three decades in tyranny.

Will they learn anything from it?